EU Commission proposes sustainable bio-economy

New European Union strategy intended to shift the European economy towards greater and more sustainable use of renewable resources has been welcomed by the industry. With limited natural resources and a world population predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050, Europe needs renewable biological resources for food and feed, as well as for materials, energy and other products.

"Europe needs to make the transition to a post-petroleum economy. Greater use of renewable resources is no longer just an option, it is a necessity. We must drive the transition from a fossil-based to a bio-based society with research and innovation as the motor. This is good for our environment, our food and energy security, and for Europe's competitiveness for the future," said Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn at the launch of the strategy. Read more ...

Ikea officially switches on their new solar energy system

Home furnishings retailer IKEA today officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its store in College Park, Maryland. The 148,200-square-foot PV array consists of a 1,196-kW system, built with 4,984 panels. This investment by IKEA reinforces the company’s commitment to sustainability and confidence in photovoltaic (PV) technology.

“We at IKEA believe in the never-ending job of striving to improve the sustainability of our day-to-day business,” said Tracie Wiesman, IKEA College Park store manager. “The IKEA coworkers in College Park are excited to help contribute to this goal with our newly operational solar energy system. We appreciate the support of the City of College Park, PEPCO and REC Solar, our partners in this project.” Read more ...

FiT reforms causing conflicting opinions

The feed in tariff's (FiTs), are again causing problems for the Government after they announced that they will reform them this has raised conflicting opinions, with one company declaring the reforms favour solar power and ignore wind energy. The government last week announced plans to ensure the future of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme to make it more predictable, stating that transparency, longevity and certainty are at the heart of the new improved scheme.

The DECC announced that the reforms would provide greater confidence to consumers and industry investing in exciting renewable technologies such as solar power, anaerobic digestion, micro-CHP, wind and hydro power. "A proposal to develop a small hydro or wind project can take up to two years to achieve planning consent and a further year to complete. Anaerobic digesters can take just as long. Pre-registration would help smooth this process to guarantee a viable project." Read more ...

Australia agriculture sector looks to clean energy future

More than 500 applications received from universities, land managers, industry and government agencies for Gillard Government funding to test and develop new ways for farmers to reduce carbon emissions. “The Action on the Ground and Filling the Research Gap programs provide funding for research into on-farm practices and new technologies,” Minister Ludwig said. “The level of interest in these programs shows how keen the agriculture sector is to benefit from the opportunities in the land sector to cut carbon pollution. Read more ...

The new Vivergo biorefinery being built at Saltend

The new Vivergo biorefinery being built at Saltend near Hull is nearly complete and the Managing Director of Vivergo Fuels the joint venture behind the plant says operations will begin in late spring. When finished the Vivergo biorefinery will be one of the largest in Europe and each year it will turn 1.1 million tons of locally grown feed wheat into 420 million liters of bioethanol and 500,000 tons of animal feed.

Mr Richards said the company had already started commissioning the "farm end" of the plant where the first stage of the refinery process takes place and the animal feed byproduct is produced. There are two other processing sections which must be finished before fuel can be made but work is more than 95 percent finished. Read more ...

NGO study on Biofuels is full of factual errors

A new study that was commissioned by NGO's Friends of the Earth, ActionAid, has been criticised by the ethanol association ePURE as being flawed and full of factual errors. The new reports claims that biofuels are expected to cost EU consumers about €126 billion (US$167 billion), at the pump between now and 2020. According to ePURE, analysts FO Licht’s looked at the report and say: "There are inherent difficulties in calculating the differences in the cost of producing fossil fuels on the one hand and biofuels on the other. Even the study authors warn that it should be noted that these projections are extremely uncertain, and thus the results derived are indicative." Read more ...

Farmers invited to see biomass in action at Country Estate

Farmers are being invited to a historic country estate, to learn about biomass and how to get into renewable fuel. The Barningham Park Estate a 7000 acre estate in North Yorkshire, has set up a commercial operation to supply wood chip biomass boilers in the region.

Ed Milbank, who manages the family estate near Richmond, said: "The estate's woodland has now become a big asset for us, especially as oil prices are forecast to continue rising and demand for timber is growing. "We are now felling old, thin conifer blocks and re-planting and this year we have planted a further 70 acres of mixed woodland. Read more ...

The GRAPAS Theme, "Guaranteeing food and feed safety"

"Guaranteeing food and feed safety through greater use of technology in the control of product quality at each step of the milling process, from raw material collection-through processing-to-product dispatch." The GRAPAS Conference starts at 09:30 on February 15, 2012 and is part of the GRAPAS Exhibition, hosted and co-located with Victam Asia 2012. The Conference will be in English and translated simultaneously into Thai and is free to register. Please register here.

7 Days to go

Join the Revolution at GRAPAS "Guaranteeing food and feed safety"

Download your free GRAPAS ticket and badge